Council on the case

We seem to get pot holes in the road outside our house fairly often, as do quite a lot of other people in the road. They often seem to be associated with trenches dug in the past for one or other of the utilities, so perhaps their gangs have not got the hang of making good their holes in the road. This particular one was round, about a foot wide and six inches deep, more or less breaking through the prepared surface of the road into the subsoil beneath. At the tipping point.

After being prompted a number of times, I got around to telling the council. That is to say I went to the Epsom & Ewell website to be routed to the Surrey website where I was invited to submit my problem.

An email appeared almost immediately telling me that the matter would be looked into shortly. A man in a van appeared the next morning to look and a couple of men in a lorry appeared a day or so later to do.

I don't suppose a quick mend like this is going to last a terribly long time, but no complaints about the service while it does.

PS: I did wonder about doing the job myself, but was not sure where I would get the blacktop from. I think you can get stuff in bags which can be applied cold, but usually the men with a lorry have hot stuff under a tarpaulin which is probably much better. Then there is the worry about getting sued by ungrateful neighbours if you get it wrong and they dent their jag in your hole...